Grace Park Central ~ 1865 – 1945.
Monument Avenue to Grace Street

Little Monument 11 represents the end of the military occupation of Virginia by Federal troops. President Lincoln’s “with malice toward none and charity toward all” fell on deaf ears in the U.S. Congress. It is important to recognize how this treatment affected the Black and White Virginians of the day. For the generation that lived in “Military District No. 1,” those days became the lessons of history they taught to their children and grandchildren.

Little Monument 12 ~The death of Robert E. Lee & Birth of “The Lost Cause.”Alter with cap, sword, pistol, textbook with title “The Lost Cause”

Little Monument 12 represents the same year, 1870, in which Robert E. Lee died. It may be argued that the two events created “The Lost Cause” — the reasoning of that generation, explaining themselves to history, and the effect on generations to come. It may also be considered the beginning of Jim Crow laws in Virginia and across the South. Here also is a good place to recall Confederates who – after the war – supported newly freed slaves.

{{{ not happy with 13 & 14 ||| need to rewrite}}}

Little Monuments 13 is an homage to the generation of African-American Virginians that created the “Harlem of the South” in Richmond’s Jackson Ward. Maggie Walker

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson are but two examples of incredible spirit and determination. (see also Wikipedia, “Jackson Ward”)

In the same years, between the world wars, the Klu Klux Klan marched down Grace Street (Little Monument 15) in full robe and hood regalia. Perhaps to this very spot. Perhaps to a rally at the Lee Monument. The older men in the crowd may well have fought under Lee’s command. By this time, Virginia and the other Southern states were well into Jim Crow laws. Here include the history of why the monuments were erected.

Little Monument 16 represents a day in 1941 when — upon the death of the last Confederate veteran in residence — the Robert E. Lee Camp, Confederate Soldiers Home closed. A united America needed to fight another war.

(Can you imagine any place keeping its doors open to the last patient these days!? Obviously, there were motivations in their work well beyond profit. By the way, the “Old Soldiers’ Home” was located at Grove Avenue and the Boulevard, the current location of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.)